Computer-assisted wait time estimation

Abstract

A method for estimating a wait time associated with a queue serviced by active service points. The method comprises obtaining sensor data relating to the queue; from which a plurality of waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue is identified, each waiting entity associated with a respective number of individuals; receiving a request to compute an estimated wait time (EWT) for a given one of the individuals; computing the estimated wait time for the given individual; and causing a message comprising the EWT to be made accessible to a communication device associated with the given individual. The EWT is computed based on: (i) a distribution, in terms of the number of individuals per waiting entity, of the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given individual; (ii) nominal wait times associated with respective numbers of individuals; and (iii) the number of active service points.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a computer to estimate a wait time associated with a queue serviced by one or more active service points, the method comprising:
 obtaining sensor data relating to the queue;   identifying from the sensor data a plurality of waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue, each waiting entity associated with a respective number of service-seeking individuals;   receiving a request to compute an estimated wait time for a given one of the service-seeking individuals;   computing the estimated wait time for the given one of the service-seeking individuals based on:   (i) a distribution, in terms of the number of service-seeking individuals per waiting entity, of the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given one of the service-seeking individuals;   (ii) nominal wait times associated with respective numbers of service-seeking individuals; and   (iii) the number of active service points; and   causing a message comprising the estimated wait time to be made accessible to a communication device associated with the given one of the service-seeking individuals.   
     
     
         2 . The method defined in  claim 1 , further comprising determining the number of active service points from the sensor data. 
     
     
         3 . The method defined in  claim 2 , further comprising processing the sensor data to determine a number of service points and detecting presence or absence of a service agent at each of said service points, wherein the number of active service points is determined to be the number of service points where presence of a service agent is detected. 
     
     
         4 . The method defined in  claim 1 , wherein the sensor data comprises at least one of camera data, radar data and lidar data. 
     
     
         5 . The method defined in  claim 1 , further comprising using at least one sensor to obtain the sensor data. 
     
     
         6 . The method defined in  claim 5 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors, and wherein the method further comprises aggregating the sensor data from the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         7 . The method defined in  claim 1 , wherein identifying from the sensor data the plurality of waiting entities comprises determining, based on the sensor data, dynamic locations of service-seeking individuals in the queue and, based on the dynamic locations of the service-seeking individuals, determining which of the service-seeking individuals form part of a common waiting entity. 
     
     
         8 . The method defined in  claim 7 , wherein the sensor data is obtained from at least one sensor, and wherein the method further comprises registering the sensor data within a frame of reference in which are defined the positions of (i) a service area comprising the at least one active service point, (ii) the queue and (iii) the at least one sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The method defined in  claim 8 , wherein registering the sensor data includes processing the sensor data relative to the frame of reference to determine the dynamic locations of the service-seeking individuals in the queue. 
     
     
         10 . The method defined in  claim 1 , further comprising: (i) tracking an actual wait time for a particular one of the waiting entities in the queue, the particular one of the waiting entities associated with a particular number of service-seeking individuals, and (ii) updating the nominal wait time associated with the particular number of service-seeking individuals based on the actual wait time for the particular one of the waiting entities. 
     
     
         11 . The method defined in  claim 1 , further comprising: determining the nominal wait time associated with a particular number of service-seeking individuals based on measured wait times for previously serviced waiting entities associated with the particular number of service-seeking individuals. 
     
     
         12 . The method defined in  claim 1 , wherein the request is received from the communication device associated with the particular service-seeking individual of the given one of the service-seeking individuals. 
     
     
         13 . The method defined in  claim 7 , wherein identifying the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given one of the service-seeking individual includes identifying a given waiting entity to which the given one of the service-seeking individuals belongs and identifying the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given waiting entity. 
     
     
         14 . The method defined in  claim 13 , wherein the identifying is based on location information received from the communication device. 
     
     
         15 . The method defined in  claim 14 , wherein the location information is part of the request. 
     
     
         16 . The method defined in  claim 14 , wherein the identifying comprises correlating the location information received from the communication device with the dynamic locations of the service-seeking individuals in the queue. 
     
     
         17 . The method defined in  claim 16 , wherein message is sent over a data network and wherein the request is received in a second message also sent over the data network. 
     
     
         18 . The method defined in  claim 1 , wherein computing the estimated wait time for the given one of the service-seeking individuals includes determining a sum, over each number of service-seeking individuals, of the product of (i) the number of waiting entities comprising that number of service-seeking individuals and occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given one of the service-seeking individuals and (ii) the nominal wait time associated with that number of service-seeking individuals. 
     
     
         19 . The method defined in  claim 18 , wherein computing the estimated wait time for the given one of the service-seeking individuals further includes determining a quotient of said sum and the number of active service points. 
     
     
         20 . The method defined in  claim 1 , performed periodically as individual ones of the plurality of waiting entities are serviced by the one or more active service points. 
     
     
         21 . A computer-assisted system for estimating a wait time of a queue serviced by one or more active service points, comprising:
 at least one sensor configured for obtaining sensor data relating to the queue; and   a computing apparatus communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured for:
 identifying from the sensor data a plurality of waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue, each waiting entity associated with a respective number of service-seeking individuals; 
 receiving a request to compute an estimated wait time for a given one of the service-seeking individuals; 
 computing the estimated wait time for the given one of the service-seeking individuals based on:
 (i) a distribution, in terms of the number of service-seeking individuals per waiting entity, of the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given one of the service-seeking individuals; 
 (ii) nominal wait times associated with respective numbers of service-seeking individuals; and 
 (iii) the number of active service points; and 
 
   causing a message comprising the estimated wait time to be made accessible to a communication device associated with the given one of the service-seeking individuals.   
     
     
         22 . A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-readable code representing instructions to be executed by a processor operatively coupled to a memory, the processor-readable code comprising code to cause the processor to:
 obtain sensor data relating to a queue;   identify from the sensor data a plurality of waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue, each waiting entity associated with a respective number of service-seeking individuals;   receive a request to compute an estimated wait time for a given one of the service-seeking individuals;   compute the estimated wait time for the given one of the service-seeking individuals based on:   (i) a distribution, in terms of the number of service-seeking individuals per waiting entity, of the waiting entities occupying respective positions in the queue ahead of the given one of the service-seeking individuals;   (ii) nominal wait times associated with respective numbers of service-seeking individuals; and   (iii) a number of active service points for servicing the queue; and   cause a message comprising the estimated wait time to be made accessible to a communication device associated with the given one of the service-seeking individuals.   
     
     
         23 . A method of operating a computer to estimate a wait time associated with a queue of people, the method comprising:
 obtaining sensor data relating to the queue;   determining from the sensor data a number of single-person waiting entities in the queue and a number of multi-person waiting entities in the queue;   computing an estimated wait time based on at least: (i) the determined number of single-person waiting entities, (ii) the determined number of multi-person waiting entities, (iii) a nominal single-person wait time and (iv) a nominal multi-person wait time; and   taking an action based on the computed estimated wait time.   
     
     
         24 . The method defined in  claim 23 , further comprising consulting a memory to obtain the nominal single-person wait time and the nominal multi-person wait time. 
     
     
         25 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the sensor data comprises at least one of camera data, radar data and lidar data. 
     
     
         26 . The method defined in  claim 23 , further comprising using at least one sensor to obtain the sensor data. 
     
     
         27 . The method defined in  claim 26 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors, and wherein the method further comprises aggregating the sensor data from the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         28 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the queue is serviced by at least one active service point and wherein the sensor data is obtained from at least one sensor, the method further comprising registering the sensor data within a frame of reference in which are defined the positions of (i) the at least one active service point, (ii) the queue and (iii) the at least one sensor. 
     
     
         29 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein determining from the sensor data the number of single-person waiting entities in the queue and the number of multi-person waiting entities in the queue comprises determining, based on the sensor data, dynamic locations of the people in the queue and, based on the dynamic locations of the people in the queue, determining which of the people belong to a multi-person waiting entity. 
     
     
         30 . The method defined in  claim 29 , wherein registering the sensor data includes processing the sensor data relative to the frame of reference to determine dynamic locations of the people in the queue. 
     
     
         31 . The method defined in  claim 30 , further comprising processing the dynamic locations of the people in the queue to determine the number of single-person waiting entities and the number of multi-person waiting entities. 
     
     
         32 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the queue is serviced by at least one active service point, and wherein the method further comprises comparing the estimated wait time to a threshold, wherein said taking an action comprises activating at least one additional service point if the estimated wait time exceeds the threshold. 
     
     
         33 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the queue is serviced by a plurality of active service points, and wherein the method further comprises comparing the estimated wait time to a threshold, wherein said taking an action comprises closing at least one of the service points if the estimated wait time is below the threshold. 
     
     
         34 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein computing the estimated wait time comprises determining a sum of (i) the product of the determined number of single-person waiting entities and the nominal single-person wait time and (ii) the product of the determined number of multi-person waiting entities and the nominal multi-person wait time. 
     
     
         35 . The method defined in  claim 34 , wherein the queue is serviced by one or more active service points, and wherein computing the estimated wait time further includes determining a quotient of said sum and the number of active service points. 
     
     
         36 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the queue is serviced by at least one active service point, and wherein the method is performed periodically as individual waiting entities are serviced by the at least one active service point. 
     
     
         37 . The method defined in  claim 23 , wherein the determined number of multi-person waiting entities in the queue comprises a number of 2-person waiting entities in the queue, a number of 3-person waiting entities in the queue and/or a number of 4-person waiting entities in the queue. 
     
     
         38 . A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-readable code representing instructions to be executed by a processor operatively coupled to a memory, the processor-readable code comprising code to cause the processor to:
 obtain sensor data relating to a queue;   determine from the sensor data a number of single-person waiting entities in the queue and a number of multi-person waiting entities in the queue;   compute an estimated wait time based on at least: (i) the determined number of single-person waiting entities, (ii) the determined number of multi-person waiting entities, (iii) a nominal single-person wait time and (iv) a nominal multi-person wait time; and   take an action based on the computed estimated wait time.   
     
     
         39 . A computer-assisted system for estimating a wait time of a queue of people, comprising:
 at least one sensor configured for obtaining sensor data relating to the queue; and   a computing apparatus communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured for:
 obtaining sensor data relating to the queue; 
 determining from the sensor data a number of single-person waiting entities in the queue and a number of multi-person waiting entities in the queue; 
 computing an estimated wait time based on at least: (i) the determined number of single-person waiting entities, (ii) the determined number of multi-person waiting entities, (iii) a nominal single-person wait time and (iv) a nominal multi-person wait time; and 
 taking an action based on the computed estimated wait time.